The prior art is already aware of piston and rod assemblies wherein the piston itself is made of two or more pieces which are releasably related to the rod and may be releasably fastened to each other such as by bolts or the like. One example of the prior art is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,719 wherein bolts are employed for fastening two piston pieces together on opposite sides of a split ring on the rod. Another prior art example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,842 which also utilizes a split ring and a piston which is axially secured to the rod by relating to the split ring. However, in the prior art, the assembled piston is not fully axially secured and limited relative to the rod, and the resulting assembly is not sturdy and easily rendered fluid-tight, as compared to the present invention.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an assembly of a piston and a rod constituting an improvement over the assemblies heretofore known. More specifically, the present invention provides a piston and rod assembly of a bolt-on type wherein the piston is completely axially fixed relative to the rod and there is therefore no axial movement of the piston relative to the rod. Still further, the present invention provides the assembly mentioned and it does so with an assembly which is fluid-tight in the joints between the piston and the rod surfaces, and the aforementioned is accomplished without unduly complex constructions and without a large number of parts and fluid seals.
Still further, the present invention provides a piston and rod assembly wherein the assembly can be readily and easily accomplished and the unit can be disassembled, when and if such is desired. Also, the aforementioned objectives are accomplished and the resulting assembly provides a construction which can withstand high impact loads, compared to the impact loads which can be withstood by the assemblies of the prior art, and this objective is accomplished because of the arrangement of the assembly and particularly because there is no axial movement of the piston relative to the rod in the final assembled position. Therefore, impact loads will not tend to damage the assembly by having the piston move relative to the rod and hit against the rod or the like, as is possible with the prior art assemblies which inherently have axial play or movement of the piston relative to the rod.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings.